christopher price

Transformer: How return of Shane Vereen changes Patriots offense

It doesn’t have the breathless “will-he-or-won’t-he” drama of Gronk Watch that occupied the first six weeks of the regular season, but the return of running back Shane Vereen -- and the impact he can have on the Patriots offense -- is just as important to the success of New England over the second half of the season as the return of Rob Gronkowski.

Vereen is a unique offensive threat, one who is capable of attacking defenses on a multidimensional level. When he’s been healthy, he’s been able to use his speed as a pass catcher out of the backfield (remember, this was a guy who caught 74 passes as a collegian, prompting his college position coach to compare him to Marshall Faulk). And he’s also a threat to run between the tackles -- his 14 carries for 101 yards in the season opener against the Bills was one of the best performances of any New England running back the last few seasons. Simply put, the Patriots haven't had that sort of dual performer since Kevin Faulk, who had four seasons where he finished with at least 40 catches and 40 carries (2000, 2003, 2007, 2008) over the course of his career.

The 5-foot-8, 200-pound Vereen, who suffered a wrist injury in that game against Buffalo, was placed on injured reserve (designated for return), but has been back at practice with his teammates over the last month or so, mostly while wearing a black brace on his left wrist. He’s eligible to be activated this week, and while he’s politely declined interview requests when he’s been spotted in the locker room, the folks in Foxboro know that his return will help bring added buzz to an already sneaky-good running game that's in the top 10 in most major categories.

“He’s a very dependable, consistent player,” quarterback Tom Brady said of Vereen. “The more of those guys you have on your team, the better you are. He’s really been that and played a really important role for us the last few years. Whenever he’s back out there, whether it’s this week, next week, the following week, we’ll be excited to have him but those things are kind of out of my control. But he’s a really good player for us.”

“Shane is a good football player -- as soon as he is ready and able to help us and we are able to play him, certainly he will have a role in the game,” said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “He definitely did make a big impact in [Week 1]. I don’t know if we can expect him to do that right off the bat in his first game back, whenever that is. We’ll look forward to having him back. He is a really good kid, a great teammate and a good football player that can help us. So, we’re looking forward to that.”

Over the course of his relatively short career, Vereen has offered quick glimpses into the sort of player he could be, and caused the Patriots to move on from Danny Woodhead. In the Thanksgiving night beatdown of the Jets last November, he had a combined 132 yards and a touchdown. Against the Texans in the playoffs last January, it was 124 total yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. And in the 2013 opener against the Bills, where he lined up all over the field (including five times at receiver) it was 159 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown -- in that one, he averaged a whopping 7.57 yards when he touched the ball.

One area where he will undoubtedly provide a boost is when it comes to yards after the catch. One of the hallmarks of the New England passing game over the last five seasons has been the ability of the receivers (thanks in large part to the quarterback putting the ball exactly where it needs to be) to pick up sizable YAC numbers. The loss of Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez (and going without Gronkowski for the first six weeks of the season) threw a sizable wrench into what the Patriots passing game was capable of when it came to YAC.

However, Vereen had the highest percentage of YAC of any pass catcher who had at least 100 yards receiving on the New England roster last season. He ended the 2012 season with 149 receiving yards, and an impressive 141 of those came after the catch. (The bulk of those yards came on an 83-yard catch and run against the Jets last year on Thanksgiving when he took a pass from Brady out of the backfield and outraced the field all the way to the end zone.)

At least when it comes to short-term expectations, pumping the brakes might be the best course of action when it comes to the expectation level regarding Vereen. He’s a dynamic offensive option -- the most versatile presence the Patriots have -- but needs to have a week or two before he returns to full speed. It takes time to build up the cardio needed to play 60 minutes worth of football: as Bill Belichick has said on a number of occasions, you can’t get in football shape by running around the track.

Despite the fact that he was practicing with the team since the summer, in his first game back against the Jets on Oct. 20, Gronkowski admitted to being gassed on more than one occasion. And after Danny Amendola went down following a Week 1 injury to the Bills (and was sidelined for almost a month with a groin injury), he was limited to 39 of a possible 63 offensive snaps against the Jets. Only now are the two getting back to where they need to be when it comes to an overall level of football fitness.

In the short term, it means less playing time for Brandon Bolden, who has taken the majority of snaps as the third-down/changeup back in place of Vereen, as well as the likelihood that Bolden won’t be able to hit the 40-catch/40-carry level that Danny Woodhead reached last season. But while there will be fewer offensive opportunities across the board for the rest of the skill position players, the feeling is that the return of Vereen will bring a late-season jolt of energy to a New England offense and provide another talented option for Brady in a passing game that’s only now just starting to click.

Greg and Chris talk with Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston in hour 2 of NFL Sunday to discuss a variety of offseason happenings with the Pats and throughout the league. Greg and Chris also get into the NFL Draft and where Mariota and Winston will go.

Mike Reiss calls the guys to talk about the offseason news for the Pats. He talks about the Pats/Jets tampoering fiasco, free agency, where he sees Ridley and Connolly ending up, if the Patriots would be interested in Reggie Wayne and more.

In the first hour of the show, Greg and Chris discuss the news coming out of the owners' meetings this week and rule changes. Belichick's blow-up over the league not wanting to spend on endzone cameras was well documented and the guys react. They also talk about the Jets ridiculous tampering charges, free agents still lingering out there, where Stevan Ridley will land and the RB position in New England. Dickerson and Price briefly discuss the adventures of Tom Brady before being joined by WEEI.com's Mike Petraglia to talk all things Pats in the offseason.

Flannery joins Mut to break down the Isaiah Thomas trade to Boston and what it means for the Celtics this season and in the future. Paul also chats with Mut about the other deals that happened at the NBA's trading deadline

Mut, Tomase, and Bradford kick things off talking about Shane Victorino taking offense to people reading into some comments he made about trading for Cole Hamels. They also discuss Blake Swihart and how soon he could be up if Christian Vazquez starts the season on the DL.

Joe Kelly joined the Hot Stove show where he talked about being ready for his next spring training start after a biceps ailment forced him out of his last outing, he talks about his NCAA brackets and how teammate Wade Miley has a perfect bracket still.

Peter Chiarelli joined the Sunday Skate crew to talk about the Bruins playoff push heading into the final handful of games of the regular season. Chiarelli talked about avoiding some of the overly negative feedback he gets while realizing that the team does have real issues. He discusses what went down at the trade deadline and if he was happy with the outcome, Lucic having a down year and underperforming, the salary cap and if he considers it as big of an issue as it's been made out to be and what the future holds for the team.

It's a big hour #2 for the Sunday Skate dudes - they talk about the B's defenseman and what the future looks like at that position, with both moves the team can make and younger guys in the AHL. They also get into the Bruins philosophy on bringing guys up and sending them back down and how players deal with that. Finally, the boys are joined by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to discuss EVERYTHING.

The Sunday Skate crew gets the show going discussing the Bruins big, impressive victory over the NY Rangers yesterday. What can you take from that game? According to LB - Lyndon Byers - who called the guys from the road, not a lot. LB drops a dime on what was going on with the Rangers yesterday. DJ and Joe discuss Claude's lines and groupings and the importance of Ryan Spooner. They also get into Lucic, his contributions this year and if he can turn things around.

With the Wells report seemingly wrapping up (we hope), Tim and Lou got to talking about possible fines and punishments the Patriots must face. It's possible that the Patriots will face a small fine, but should they take that laying down? The conversation brings out a little passion from BOTH sides.